Note: Make a copy of your disk for use as a League disk before
playing TV Sports Football. Your game disk contains league and
season data that is permanently modified when you play "League "
games. IMPORTANT: You must format the copy disk as a single sided
disk! See your computer owner's manual if you need help with
making disk copies. Always keep the original disk write-protected.

Insert the disk in the internal drive, turn on your computer. The
game loads automatically. When prompted to insert your league
disk, place that disk in your internal drive.

MAKING A LEAGUE DISK

Before you start league play in TV Sports Football you need to format a blank disk.
When you play the game for the first time, leave the game disk in the drive at the
prompt to insert your League Disk. After you have edited as many teams as you desire,
insert your blank disk, then select Save League. This is now your League Disk.

MENUS AND GAME OPTIONS

The main menu has five options: EXHIBITION, LEAGUE, PRACTICE,
SCHEDULES, and STANDINGS. Select an option by moving the joystick port 2
up or down until the cursor is next to your selection.
Press the button.

EXHIBITION GAMES

When the EXHIBITION options appear, select one and press the
button. Select a Visiting Team from the clip board by moving the
pencil to the desired team and pressing the button. In ONE PLAYER
mode, the FIRST team you choose (The Visiting Team) is the team YOU will control, and
is highlighted in BLUE. The SECOND team you select (the home team) is your opponent,
and is highlighted in RED. The color that highlights each team is the color the team
wears on the field. For TWO PLAYER games use a second joystick, plugged into PORT 1, when
selecting the home team.

LEAGUE GAMES

The Cinemaware Football League (CWFL) consists of 28 teams; each
team has either a HUMAN or COMPUTER "owner". (To change ownership
from COMPUTER to HUMAN, see paragraph EDITING A TEAM found later in these manual.) You
may have a league solely consisting of computer teams, and watch
seasons progress as a spectator.

Or you may change one computer team
to a HUMAN team and control it through a rigorous schedule of
computer opponents. Or you may compete in a league with up to 27
of your friends, each friend choosing a team to "own" while any
remaining teams are controlled by the computer. In multi-player
leagues, some of your games may be against COMPUTER teams and some may be
against other HUMANS.

PLAYING LEAGUE GAMES

After you select LEAGUE (refer to making a league disk)
from the Main Menu, you may choose to
CONTINUE a SEASON in progress, or start a NEW SEASON. If you
decide to start a new season, you may choose to EDIT TEAM. After
you have edited as many teams as you care to, SAVE LEAGUE to save
your changes to your League Disk. This returns you to the NEW SEASON Menu.

WARNING: When you play a game in a NEW SEASON, you permanently
erase all games played on the previous season on your league disk!
When you edit a team and SAVE LEAGUE, you permanently modify that
team on your disk! You are only allowed one season and one league per
disk. You cannot modify a team in mid-season; attempting to do so
will reses the league to week 1. To run more than one season at a
time, simply make an another League Disk.

When you are ready to play, go to CONTINUE SEASON and press the
button. You will see a schedule of the current week's games. A
blue C indicates COMPUTER controlled teams. A red H marks the
teams that are HUMAN controlled (if your team is not marked with
an H, it means you forgot to change ownership and you must start
over).

Move the pencil to the game that features your team and
press the button. This game will now be highlighted. To begin,
choose PLAY at the bottom of the screen. Choose MAIN MENU to exit.

CHOOSING HOLD AND AUTO MODES

The right side of the weekly schedule screen has a status schedule
indicating whether a game is in HOLD or AUTO mode. Notice that the
games with one or more HUMAN owners default to HOLD mode, while
all computer vs. computer games default to AUTO.

This means those
games will be played automatically, while the human games will be
held until a later time. While playing your league game on the
screen, all the games in AUTO mode are actually being decided off-
screen. Also, if you don't select a game before you push PLAY all
the games in AUTO mode will be resolved. You can toggle games
between the two modes by moving the pencil to the status column of
the appropriate game and pressing the button.

This allows two
things; first, you can HOLD a computer vs. computer game and watch it
later, either to study your next opponent or just to enjoy a big game;
And Second, if you're competing in a multi-player league and one of
the players isn't available for his game he can elect to have the
computer simulation decide the game for him almost instantly!

NO
ONE can advance to the next week until all games from the current
week have been decided, either by playing or by computer
simulation.

PRACTICE

Football is a game of fundamentals, and the only way to improve
your fundamentals is by practicing. This option allows you to
practice handoffs, pitches, field goals and (most importantly!)
passing.

The play calling screen remains up for an indefinite
amount of time allowing you to analyze the play diagrams. Once you
have selected a play you can hike the ball immediately. You return
to the play calling screen whenever the play ends: by running out
of bounds, throwing an incomplete pass, or by scoring a touchdown.

You have unlimited downs, no time limits, no penalties, and you
are returned to the 20-yard line after each play. The team used in
practice is not a real team, but a perfect team, all players have
an 8 in each skill. (Refer to ranking and skills later in the manual.

To exit the practice mode and return to the main menu, press the button when
you are on the playcalling screen without making a play selection.

SCHEDULES

This option displays a weekly schedule of league games. The PREV
WEEK and NEXT WEEK options at the bottom of the screen allow you
to go forward or backward on the schedule. Move the pencil to your
choice and press the button.

Scores of games that have already
been resolved appear on the weekly schedules. Those in red
indicate losing efforts, while those in blue scores mark victories. When
viewing playoff schedules in mid-season, all teams appear as
T.B.D. (to be determined). Choose MAIN MENU to exit.

STANDINGS

The STANDINGS screen lets you analyze the record of every team in
every division. From left to right you can see: Wins, Losses,
Ties, accumulated Points For, and accumulated Points Against.

Also, by moving the pencil up and clicking on a team, you can view
its schedule. The Schedule shows a complete listing of opponents
and tracks scores of games that have already been played.

STARTING THE GAME

After you choose the type of game you want to play, the broadcast
begins! A short graphic and musical sequence introduces the game
(this sequence can be skipped with a button press).

Following
this, a coin toss determines who kicks off and who receives to
start the game. The VISITING team always makes the initial
selection of HEADS or TAILS.

The team that wins the toss can
choose whether they want to KICK or RECEIVE (the team that
receives the opening kickoff will kickoff to start the second
half).

You control the flashing player. On the RED (Home) Team, the player
flashes yellow and red. On the BLUE team he flashes blue and cyan.

TV Sports Football was designed to be easy for beginners, so the
game will play all by itself, even in the TWO PLAYER mode. Until
you move the joystick to "take over", the computer will always
control the flashing player. On offense, the player with the ball
always flashes and, once you have "taken control" by moving your
joystick, the computer cannot regain control, even if you release
the stick.

After the coin toss, the game goes begins with the opening kickoff. A
player on the RECEIVING team gets the ball after the kick. After
he "returns" the ball upfield and either scores a touchdown, is
tackled by the defense, or runs out of bounds, the play ends and
the PLAYCALLING SCREEN appears.

THE PLAYCALLING SCREEN

The playcalling screen is not only used for calling plays, but
also functions as a scoreboard showing the game clock, team names
(the small football icon marks the offensive team), the score by
quarter (the current quarter is indicated by the last quarter that has
a score), and the total score, the DOWN number 1-4, the yards TO GO for
a first down, and the position of the football ON the field.

The arrow after the word ON indicates which half of the field the ball
occupies. If it is pointing UP it means the football is past the
50 yard line and in the defensive team's half of the field.
Conversely, if it is pointing DOWN it means the ball is more than
50 yards from the opponent's goal line.

Also displayed on the
playcalling screen are 6 yellow lights showing the number of timeouts
remaining for each team. Each team is allowed 3 timeouts per half.

CALLING PLAYS

To call a play, whether you are on offense or defense, refer to
the two joystick icons in the lower half of the screen. Choose a
formation by moving the joystick diagonally toward the formation
you have selected. When both sides have made their decisions, the
offensive and defensive PLAYS are displayed.

Again, move the
joystick diagonally to make your selection. If you have not called
a formation or play in about 15 seconds, the computer will call
one for you. However, if no joystick input was detected on the
previous play, the computer will begin calling plays in about 5
seconds to speed up the game.

TV Sports: Football, over a period
of time, actually learns your playcalling tendencies. So, whenever
your team calls plays on its own (say you had to leave the room
for a few minutes), the computer attempts to make the same choices
you would have made.

Note: You can double the number of offensive plays by reversing them. To
do this hold down the fire button while calling your play. The pitch left now
becomes a pitch right, crossing patterns to the left become crossing patterns to
the right, etc.

CALLING TIME-OUTS (Pausing The Game)

To call a timeout, you must push the button before a formatation is
selected! The game is now paused. To return to play, push the
button again. Time-outs are useful because they stop the game clock
until the START of the next play.

The game clock also stops
automatically at the end of every quarter and following an
incomplete pass, a run out of bounds, or a change of possession.

OFFENSE

STARTING THE PLAY

As the quarterback you are the initial ball handler and
responsible for making last second decisions "at the line". One
decision a quarterback must make is whether to send his wide
receiver in motion. To do this, move the joystick left or right
before the play begins. You can "snap" the ball, and initiate
play, as soon as the down and yards to go message disappears from
the screen. There are three ways to start the play.

PUSH THE BITTON:
Pushing down on the button to snap the ball means
you want the quarterback to follow the diagrammed play and make a
handoff or pitch at the earliest opportunity. You CANNOT pass the
ball if you snap it with a button press. As soon as the running
back has the ball he will begin to run automatically. Move the
joystick at any time to take control.

PULL BACK ON THE STICK: If you want total control over the
quarterback pull the joystick back for a longer time. Tapping the
joystick makes the quarterback drop back about 3 to 4 yards and you
may continue pulling back to drop back even farther.

You can drop
back, roll to the left or right, or even attempt to run the ball
(a quarterback sneak). You can make handoffs and pitches by
pushing your button when a running back is near (the timing on this
is critical). The ball will go to the nearest running back.

THROWING THE BALL

While controlling the movements of the quarterback behind the line
of scrimmage (the position of the ball when the play started),
release the joystick so the quarterback stops moving to enter pass
mode. By moving the joystick left and right you can make him
"point" to virtually any spot on the field.

To break out of this
mode and run, you must move the joystick either up or down. To
pass the ball in the direction you are pointing, press and hold
your joystick button. The WHITE X shows you where the ball will
land, and marks the middle of the "catchable range".

As long as
you hold your finger on the button, the X will continue to move up
the field (the STRENGTH rating of the quarterback determines how
far the ball can ultimately travel). At the moment you release
your button, the X will stop moving. The nearest eligible receiver
will be activated and begin running toward the X, and the ball
will be halfway between it and the quarterback.

It is VERY
important to lead you receivers. This means that you should throw
the ball far enough in front of them so that they get to the X the
same time the ball does. Practice your first few games. Soon, you
will learn to "read" the defense, and your interception rate will
go down while your pass completion percentage goes up.

CATCHING THE BALL

The X on the field marks the middle of the catchable range. The
closer an offensive player is to the X when the ball comes down,
the better chance he has of catching it. However, if a defensive
player is there at the same time, it is possible that, based on
the HANDS ratings of the two players, the ball will be knocked
down or even intercepted.

To try a diving catch, press your button
while pushing the joystick in the direction you want to dive. The
player you are controlling will dive. Sometimes this is the only
way to catch a ball that has been overthrown or underthrown.
Practice diving catched int he PRACTICE mode before attempting one
in a game situation.

RUNNING THE BALL

There are two types of running plays: runs up the middle and runs
to the outside. Running up the middle requires a good offensive
line; it is their responsibility to open a hole for you to run
through. When you find the hole, get through it as quickly as
possible, before the linebackers have a chance to react. Running
to the outside requires more speed and quickness.

Whenever you
carry the ball you should never just run right at a defender. Let
him get close, then cut to the left or right and try to avoid him.
This works best when your AGILITY rating is better than his.

PUNTING THE BALL

Punting the ball is similar to throwing a long pass from the
shotgun. Snap the ball by pulling down on the stick. When the
punter catches it, move your joystick left or right to point in
the direction you want to kick. Hold the button the punt the ball.

The distanace a punter (or a place kicker) can kick the ball is
determined by his POWER rating, which is the average of the four skill
ratings: Speed, Hands, Strength and Agility.

DEFENSE

ADJUSTING THE DEFENSE

Before the play begins you have three defensive options: you can
switch control to any of four defensive backs or linebackers,
you can move the defense around, or you can change the assignment
of any player to BLITZ or MAN TO MAN.

SWITCHING THE PLAYER YOU CONTROL:
You can change defensive players (before the play only),
by pressing the button. Keep pressing it until the player you want
to control is flashing. Be careful not
to push the button while the ball is snapped (after the quarterback
leans into his stance) or your player will
dive and you won't be able to control him until he gets up back again.

MOVING THE DEFENSE AROUND:
While a player is activated you can
move him anywhere on the field, even across the line of scrimmage.
However, if you move across the line and make contact with an
offensive player, you will be called for encroachment. If you are
past the line when the quarterback hikes the ball, you will get an
offsides penalty.

CHANGING A PLAYERS ASSIGNMENT TO BLITZ OR MAN TO MAN: Before the
ball has been snapped, activate the player you want to BLITZ, then
hold down your button and pull DOWN on the stick to change his
assignment. You may change his assignment to a MAN TO MAN pass
coverage by holding down the button and pushing UP on the stick.

It doesn't matter what his assignment was, and you can change as
many players as you like, or have time to change. It's sometimes a
useful strategy to BLITZ a cornerback if there are no wide
receivers lined up opposite him on the field.

However, be careful
the offense doesn't send a wide receiver in motion, or you could
leave him uncovered. On the other hand, assigning MAN TO MAN
coverage works well against a pass, but leaves his area open for
an outside pass.

MAKING THE TACKLE
Your defensive players must move close enough to the ballcarrier
to tackle him in order to stop the play and prevent a touchdown.
When a defender is in range, he may or may not be able to make the
tackle, depending on his STRENGTH and AGILITY.

You may also attempt a diving tackle. To make a diving tackÍle,
press your button while pushing your joystick in the direction you
want to dive. There are several advantages and one big
disadvantage in attempting a diving tackle.

The advantages are:
diving tackles cause more fumbles, it may be the only way to catch
a speedier player, and if you hit the ball carrier head on you
will push him back a few yards.

The big disadvantage is that you
are committing yourself, because you only get one chance to make
the tackle. If you miss you could be giving up a touchdown.

RECOVERING FUMBLES
Fumbles occur randomly based on the STRENGTH of the tackler, the
HANDS of the ball carrier, and the severity of the hit (diving
tackles cause almost twice as many fumbles). After a fumble, the
first person to push and hold his button will recover the ball.

KICKING FIELD GOALS AND EXTRA POINTS

There are two ways to kick a field goal. You can let the computer
attempt the kick (if so, do nothing), or you can try to kick it
yourself (hike the ball by pulling back on the stick). Both
attempts will be based on the ratings of the kicker and the timing
of the kick.

There is a box in the lower right corner of the field
goal screen with a picture of a football. Use this as a guide to
where on the football you want to kick it. As soon as the ball is
hiked a horizontal line starts to move from the bottom of the
football, push the button to stop it.

The spot where the white and
brown lines intersect is the spot where you kick the football. To
kick the ball high and short you would stop the white line near
the bottom of the football diagram. To kick it long and low (the
lower it is the greater chance it has of being blocked, see
BLOCKING THE KICK, below) you would leave the line at the halfway
point without going past.

If you go past the halfway point you
will top it and send it tumbling along the ground. To kick to the
left you should aim the the brown line to the right side. And if
the goal posts are to the right you should position the brown line
to the left. If you attempt a straight kick but it sails off to
the left or right the kicker probably has a low ACCURACY rating.

The POWER rating will determine the maximum distance the kicker
can kick, although no field goals may be attempted beyond the 50-
yard line. (The kicker's ACCURACY rating is figured by adding his
HANDS and his AGILITY. His POWER rating is figured by adding his
STRENGTH and SPEED).

BLOCKING THE KICK

It is very difficult to block a field goal. It must be a low kick
and your timing has to be perfect. Move your joystick left and
right to position the middle linebacker between the kicker and the
goal posts, and just after the ball is in the air push your button
to jump.

EDITING A TEAM

Whenever you start a new season, you have the option to EDIT TEAM.
You may edit the team name, team abbreviation, and players' names;
toggle the ownership between COMP. and HUMAN; and alter player
ranking and skills. Just move the pencil to the item you want to
change and press the button.

When you select a name or
abbreviation, a flashing black cursor should appear at the end of
the old data. Use space to delete the entire line. When you select
a ranking or skill, its box will turn black to indicate that you
have selected it. Just type the appropriate number and press
. You may move the joystick to cancel an edit.

When changing rankings you mist type in a leading 0 for ranks 1 to 9 -
01, 02 etc. Becouse the computer requires a two digit number.

When you are done, select ACCEPT and press the button. This makes
a temporary copy of your new team in memory. You may now edit
another team, or save your changes to disk with the SAVE LEAGUE
option.

An editing session permanently modifies the team on disk.
Several sessions may be used to create a multi-player league. When
all players are satisfied with their teams, select CONTINUE SEASON
to begin league play.

IMPORTANT: You cannot modify a team in mid-season; attempting to
do so will reset the league to week 1. However you may examine teams during
the season. Choose EDIT TEAM, then look at any tam you wish. When you are finished
leave by selecting CANCEL. This does not reset the league.

RANKINGS AND SKILLS

All players are ranked from 1 to 18. The rankings determine the
total number of "talent points" that a player is allocated. The
best player on your team is given 24 points, the second best
player gets 23 points, and so on down to the worst player who has
7 points.

The points are then divided among four different skills:
SPEED, STRENGTH, HANDS, and AGILITY. You cannot give a player more
or less total points than he was allocated. So if a player has 20
talent points and you have given him 5 points in each of the first
three areas, the computer will only accept a 5 in AGILITY.

The Four Skill Levels Are:
Speed - Determines how fast he can run.
Strength - For th QB, determines how far he can throw the ball. Strengths
of ballcarriers and defensive players are compared when determining whether
a tackle is made.

Hands - Is a factor in determining whether a player catches the ball or which player
(if any) catches it if several are in range.

Agility - Determines how quickly a player can change direction when running this
becomes a factor when a receiver must come back to the ball to make the reception, or
when a ballcarrier is trying to evade a tackle.

HINTS AND STRATEGIES

1. There are many variations on each offensive play. Use PRACTICE
mode to experiment. During a game, learn to set up your opponent
by running a different variation of a play the the defense has
seen. For example, pitch the ball to your left halfback several
times. Then when you need a big play, roll to the left like you
normally do on a pitch play, but when the defense moves down to
contain the run, stop and fire a quick pass upfield to your wide
receiver.

2. On defense, the computer defenders respond to the pass more
quickly in PASS DEFENSE.

3. Football is a game of reading and reacting. Learn to read the
defense before you begin each play, and after the play has
started. There is a big difference between passing to a man who is
in zone coverage and a man who is being covered man to man. If you
don't like what is happening downfield, try to dump off a short
pass to the nearest running back, or keep the ball yourself and
run with it. If the defense is blitzing and you can't find an open
receiver, try to throw the ball out of bounds. It beats being
sacked behind the line of scrimmage and it's certainly better than
throwing an interception.

4. Remember that a 6-1 defense, while not allowing many holes to
open in the offensive line, gives you only one man deep. This
isn't alot of protection if the QB comes up in the shotgun and
decides to throw a bomb. Be careful - don't get burned! (The 4-3
has two men deep, and the 3-4 defense has four).

5. If you don't like the play or formation you've chosen on the
playcalling screen, you can pick a new one as long as the play or
formation is still visible on the screen.

6. If you don't have time to play all 16 games on your schedule,
let the computer play the first 8, using AUTO mode.

7. If you decide to run a multi-player league, elect one player,
or even a non-player, to be the Commissioner. The Commissioner's
responsibilities could include: collecting a small entry fee from
all the contestants (for buying trophies etc.) and setting time
limits for every game (contestants have a week to resolve all
games before the commissioner uses the AUTO play mode).